Articles from Vol. 83, No. 7, July

Change takes time. This fact was brought home at the Councils by the vice president of a major multinational who recounted his department's restructuring: "We went from 780 people to 400,"' he said. In the process, an old, hierarchical structure complete...

It's rare when the process involved to attain a goal turns out to be as valuable as the goal itself. In the case of competing for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, the application process taught Texas Instruments a series of valuable lessons--lessons...

All indicators say interest rates will continue to rise. What does that mean for business? Last March 18 Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan paid a hasty and curiously publicized visit to President Clinton at the White House. Predictably,...

If a top CEO has just landed in a visible and powerful corporate position, look for the guiding hand of Gerard R. Roche to have put him there. Gerry, as Roche is universally known, has placed more than 200 CEOs in hundreds of American corporations...

Is there long-term potential for U.S. companies in one of the last remaining untapped markets--or are there just pitfalls? Post-election and post-apartheid, American companies are venturing once again into the brave, new market of South Africa....

Customer service lessons from Ernestine and Mrs. Beasley? Think twice before discounting the idea as Lily Tomlin takes to the VCR, this time in training videos. It's about time someone straightened out Ernestine, operator-cum-receptionist, on the...

Recent political debate over continuing China's Most-Favored-Nation status has blurred key business issues between the two nations, according to Frank Martin, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, and a special guest speaker...

The way a business approaches reengineering can make all the difference in the world. Knowing that you want to do reengineering is a lot different from knowing how to do it. While many executives around the world see a reengineering project in their...

Five years ago, when I made my first visit to the Media Lab at MIT in Cambridge, the technology overwhelmed me. These pure research folks had come up with myriad toys that I was certain would make the delivery of training, as we then knew it, obsolete....

As the field of worksite health promotion programming matures, the evidence is mounting that wellness activities do significantly impact the health and well-being of employees as well as the company's bottom line. Yet as with any relatively new (only...

Nam et ipsa scientia potestas est. What's the Latin basis of Francis Bacon's famous "Knowledge is Power" quotation. Today, this axiom is still true. Instead of Latin, you have to speak CDROM to turn knowledge into power. This rapidly growing technology...

To maximize your firm's value, think of customers as a business asset. How do you measure the value of your company? Ask the chief financial officer and he or she will likely mention expected cash flow and stock price. An executive in production...

How does a company get away with charging more than its competitors yet still maintain a higher market share and profit margin? Just ask ScrubaDub Auto Wash. With eight locations and sales of more than $5 million, ScrubaDub is the largest auto-wash...

Last month I made the case that in today's business world, organizations that can effectively leverage knowledge will be more effective than those that merely consolidate land (natural resources), labor and capital. In fact, I pointed out that tomorrow's...

Back in 1987, Stone Container Corporation decided to undertake a $347 million modernization program at its Port Wentworth, Ga., pulp and paper mill. The goal: transform the mill's manual production system to high-tech computerized capability. At...